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The Mirror Crack’d-History Reflected by Hollywood

Paul D’Amboise,no current affiliation, Quebec

Avery Plaw, Concordia University, Quebec

D’Amboise, M.A. is a high school history teacher, currently on
sabbatical and Plaw, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor
of Political Science at ConcordiaUniversity

Abstract

This article examines how
mainstream (Hollywood) history films can be productively incorporated into
high school and university history classrooms.It presents the findings of an experimental case study of the use of
mainstream film in an Advanced Placement high school history course, and based
on those findings suggests a sample module for a twentieth century history
course combining film and text-based approaches to history.

I. Introduction

As the habit of reading continues to decline, especially
among the young, history teachers are increasingly confronted by students whose
impressions of the past are shaped by the mainstream historical films that Tony
Barta has called “the most powerful engine of popular
history in our culture.” (Barta, 1998, 2)The most prominent of these films are
popular, Hollywood-style releases that characteristically sacrifice historical
accuracy to the imperatives of emotionally-satisfying narrative resolution and
commercial success.As a result, many
students arrive in class with a deep background of historical misperception.

Faced with engrained historical misrepresentation, history
teachers can respond with two basic strategies.Firstly, they can swim against the tide of increasingly cinematic
history and continue to insist on the traditional text-focused curriculum,
dismissing more popularized depictions of their course material.Secondly, they can attempt to adapt to the
changing times by beginning to strategically incorporate popular historical
films into the classroom despite their frequently dubious accuracy.

While recognizing that the first pedagogical strategy is not
without merit, it is the second strategy whose potential we wish to explore
here.We suggest the following merits of
the second strategy warrant a closer examination of how it could best be
accomplished: (i.) historical films provide a richer
visual depiction of events than equivalent texts, are (ii.) an experience the
class can more easily share, and therefore (iii.) are simply more inclined to
instigate wide-ranging discussion than equivalent texts.Furthermore, (iv.)historical films will continue to exercise an
enormous influence over most students;thus it only make sense to equip students with critical viewing
capabilities.In addition, (v.) students
have an enduring affection for unmasking manipulation, and the honing of this
skill is likely to enhance the interest of history as a subject.Finally, (vi.) incorporating film into the
core curriculum in no way necessitates the exclusion of relevant texts.On the contrary, historical films will
generally give a visual immediacy to the events described in history texts, and
thereby enhance their interest.Moreover, the employment of relevant texts in debunking the inaccuracies
and manipulations of mainstream films will tend to enhance rather than diminish
their importance.Indeed, it is the
critical symbiosis produced by integrating dramatic visual narrative within a
rigorous text-based curriculum that holds the greatest promise for enhancing
historical understanding in the long term.

The question then is how can popular, Hollywood-style films
be most effectively incorporated into the history classroom to complement the
existing curriculum.Too often, films
are used as a reward or as time fillers.It is easy to understand this rationale.A film is an easy way to fill in a period.What is unfortunate is that teachers often do
not bother to analyze the films they use or to integrate them into their
overall lesson-plans.Moreover,
contemporary scholarship provides little practical guidance, especially to high
school teachers, as to how film could be successfully integrated into their
classes without undermining the seriousness and rigor of the discipline.

A range of scholars, including Daniel Walkowitz,
Robert Brent Toplin, Tony Barta,
John O’Connor and Robert Rosenstone deserve to be
recognized for their pioneering work in the field of film and history,
advancing above all the standard of accuracy in historical films. Still, as
O’Connor notes, “given the continuing popularity of commercially produced
historical film and docudrama…teaching people to be more critical viewers of
everything they see on film…is an even more effective way for historians to
influence the public perception of the past.” (O’Connor, 1990, 3)In the spirit of this statement, we
incorporated Hollywood historical feature films into a
number of history classes at the high school level, and examined one of those
classes more in-depth via a case study.

For the study, we chose an Advanced Placement European
History Class.This level of class
allowed a dual set of objectives to be explored.On the one hand, it allowed us to consider
the response of high school history students to class presentations of Hollywood
films in a number of different formats.On the other hand, it allowed for the presentation of university level
assignments and discussions relating to those films.This article presents our findings and, on
their basis, suggests a module on how to introduce a film successfully into a
traditional history class.This module
can also serve as the basis for a complete Historical Visual Literacy course.

II:Experimental Overview

Our study was conducted with a group of students registered
in an Advanced Placement European History course at St.
George’sHigh School,
a private, English language, co-educational school in Montreal,
Quebec.Classes were held five times a cycle and a cycle consisted of ten school
days.The course objectives were to
introduce the students to the major topics in European history since the
Renaissance, to develop essay-writing skills appropriate to first year
university and to provide a number of discussion sessions in which the students
would express their understanding of the material.Students were given regular reading
assignments from a text (Roberts, 1997), attended lectures and wrote one short
essay, one major paper and two exams.In
addition, those who wished to earn university credits wrote the standardized
Advanced Placement exam. Sixteen students were enrolled in the Advanced
Placement class, all of whom participated in the case study.The selection of the films used was
determined largely by the requirements of the course, the first unit of which
focused primarily on early modern Europe – from the
Renaissance through to the Counter-Reformation.Correspondingly, the films 1492: Conquest of Paradise
(1992), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and Elizabeth
(1998) were chosen.

In order to evaluate the influence and effectiveness of
historical feature films on students, two questionnaires were generated.One set was completed by the students three
times, immediately after viewing each film.Its twelve questions were designed to examine whether and how each film
advanced the students’ understanding of the topics presented therein.The questions included “What historical
thesis is the film promoting?Is it
clearly stated?How?”; “Identify the
cinematic elements in the film that helped you to understand the historical
topic which it addresses;” and “After viewing this film, what questions spring
to mind that you would like answered about either the topic or issues or the
way they were covered?”

The second questionnaire contained only three questions
meant to assess the more general question of whether or not historical feature
film is a useful approach for the dissemination of historical knowledge.Taken together, the questionnaires generated
raw data for analysis and helped suggest a future course of action.

Along with the questionnaires, the method of presentation
for each film was an important factor in the exercise.The conditions under which the films were
screened were different each time.This
was done in order to assess the impact such conditions might have on the
students’ understanding of both the film itself, and of the underlying
historical material contained within it.In other words, do students learn more from watching the film
uninterrupted in the dark, as the filmmaker intended, or should there be
interruptions to address specific issues?Should lights be on or off to create an effective learning
environment?

The three presentation formats were as follows.Each film (plus questionnaire) spanned three
or four seventy-five minute periods.The
first film was screened as a “movie experience” – in the dark with minimal
interruption.Students were instructed
to hold any questions until after the film had finished.In this way, the students’ ability to critically
assess an unmediated film experience could be analyzed. The second film was
screened under different conditions.The
classroom lights were left on and the students were allowed to ask questions
immediately rather than at the end of the film.No interruptions or explanations were initiated.Finally, the third film was screened under
the same conditions as the second, with the addition of instructor-initiated
interruptions and explanations as well as student questions.As one of the goals of the study was to
assess the pre-existing critical skills of the students, no specific background
readings related to the films were pre-assigned.

III:Main Findings

An examination of the survey data supplemented with
interviews with the students and the careful observation of classroom dynamics
over several weeks gave rise to the following main findings:

○Introductory
readings and lectures prior to viewing films are essential.As self-evident as this might appear, the
case study sought, in part, to establish a baseline of the students’ native
critical viewing skills (either innate or transferred from other disciplines
such as English) and so we only provided a cursory verbal introduction to the
topics in each film.

○The
need for, and usefulness of, a classroom environment (lights on, note-taking
during screening) and regular interruptions of the films remained important
even as the students developed their visual literacy skills.In the interest of maintaining a modicum of
enjoyment for the students, sacrificing the “lights on” requirement did not
prove overly detrimental to their learning.However, a failure to engage in judicious interruptions, to provoke
discussion or provide clarification, notably diminished the educative impact of
the film.

○While
short interruptions to the screening by the teacher were very valuable, lengthy
interruptions of the film as a whole were counterproductive.The need to screen films over the course of
several days had an adverse effect on the students’ ability to follow the
narrative flow.

○Older
films were particularly useful as starting points as students were more
naturally inclined to question the historical accuracy of such depictions.Students tended to view more contemporary
productions as more accurate, in part because the dialogue and mannerisms
expressed by characters in recent films more closely resembles their own
experiences. (Seixas, 1993, 352)

○An
additional concern raised by the case study was the general inability of
students to initially identify the thesis of the films.While a portion of the students’ difficulty
with this issue stemmed from their inability to transfer skills acquired in
English classes to history classes, it is also true that a different set of
skills is involved in ‘reading’ a film.Since the level of students’ existing film literacy is a key determinant
of how best to introduce films into a history course, these skills were not
introduced prior to the case study.Once
the habit of identifying a film’s historical theme and the means of its
development was established, however, students began to demonstrate a capacity
to do it independently.

These results suggested the desirability of a course, or at
least a module within a course, to help students develop visual literacy skills
in relation to historical film.They
also provide some guidance as to how such a module might best be
organized.

IV: Proposed
Module/Course

While today’s students are practiced viewers of visual
media, they are not necessarily critical viewers.In the same way that historians arm their
students with the tools to become critical readers, they can and should arm
their students with critical viewing tools. These tools will allow students to
better explore media-related themes including the following: realism versus
accuracy; education versus entertainment; and time-compression and its effects
on historical accuracy.The following
sample plan for a module (or course) is proposed as a means for developing
these critical viewing tools.In
general, introductory readings and lectures should be provided prior to
screening a film to give students background and context on the topic.Students should also be provided with
readings from a primer on film techniques and terminology.Each film should also be accompanied by a
short essay assignment chosen from among three or four related topics.The module is designed to allow for different
films and topics chosen at the instructor’s discretion while maintaining an
overall structure that is flexible enough to be applied across a wide range of
levels, from Grade Ten to the early undergraduate level.Difficulty levels can be varied through the
complexity of films selected and essays assigned.

The following is a sample module from a traditional course
dealing with the Cold War.To prepare
for this module the students will be assigned excerpts from Stanley Karnow’sVietnam
(1983), Walter Lefeber’sAmerica,
Russia and the
Cold War (2002) and the novel The Quiet American by Graham Greene.The film will be The Quiet American
(2002).There will be a lecture to
clarify the readings and provide further context for the film, specifically as
it treats the transition from French to American involvement in Vietnam
within the broader context of the Cold War.The lecture, moreover, will address the mechanics of critical viewing as
applied to historical feature films, drawing upon the lessons learned from the
case study.Approximately three
three-hour class periods will be devoted to preparing for, viewing, and
discussing the film.As it is the first
film of the course, there will be a significant number of interruptions for
explanations by the instructor.The
students will be provided with a worksheet that guides them during their film
viewing, also ensuring that they have notes to consult during the subsequent
class discussion of the film.

Following the film and discussion, each student will be
assigned an essay on one of the following topics:

Based on your readings, as
well as the film, discuss how US policymakers made similar mistakes to those of
the French.Be sure to discuss how the
film illustrates these mistakes and identify where the filmmakers relied on
Greene’s novel and where they relied on the historical record, typified by your
assigned readings.

Hollywood films based on historical events, whether inspired by
novels that are set in that time or by events themselves, often portray the
point of view of one or two individuals.How do the points of view of the main characters in the film compare to
the authors of the assigned history texts.Do they share the same sympathies or are they opposed?To what degree?Give at least three references from each
text.

Unlike the novel on which it
is based, The Quiet American is a post-Cold War production.What elements in the film do you think
exemplify the fact that the film is about the Cold War and Vietnam, but not of them.Justify your examples with reference to your readings and your lecture
notes.

Submission of the papers is followed by a general in-class
discussion of where and how the film promotes accurate and inaccurate
perceptions of the Cold War.

One could easily expand this module into a full course on
the Cold War and film.Films such as
Thirteen Days (2000 - on the Cuban Missile Crisis), The Path to War (2003 - a
look at the Johnson administration’s escalation of the Vietnam
conflict) and We Were Soldiers... (2002 - about the first official combat
mission for US
soldiers in Vietnam)
are recent productions that examine various aspects of US
policy and decision-making during the first half of the 1960s.The module can also be easily adapted to
other periods and themes.

V: Conclusion

It seems safe to conclude that historical feature films have
become a permanent part of the mainstream of historical research.A vast body of literature by historians has
already been dedicated to film and history.Nevertheless, with the notable exception of O’Connor’s work, there is a
demonstrable lack of discussion about how to integrate films into the
classroom, whether in university or high school.This lack is something this article has tried
to begin to redress.

While historians are charged with pursuing and acquiring
knowledge of the past and examining its truth (singular or plural, subjective
or objective), they are also charged with disseminating that knowledge and
teaching others the skills necessary to make informed judgments.History has long privileged the written word
as its primary medium of expression.Throughout the twentieth century, however, still and motion pictures
have competed mightily with the written word in this regard.At the start of a new century, it appears
that pictures are gaining the upper hand, at least with the general
public.The number of feature films,
documentaries and television programs, not to mention entire networks, devoted
to history continues to grow at an accelerating rate.Whether for good or ill, this situation is
likely to continue for the foreseeable future.It therefore becomes imperative that historians at all levels, from
post-graduate supervisors to high school teachers, first acquire and then teach
critical viewing skills to their students.Whatever form that methodology takes, we believe it needs to become one
of the basic tools of the modern practicing historian.

References

Books and articles:

Barta, Tony.ed., Screening the Past: Film and the
Representation of History.Westport,
Conn.:
Praeger Publishers, 1998.